Lauderhill woman forced out by Chinese drywall billed $1,200 for water fees

August 12, 2011|By Georgia East and Lisa J. Huriash, Sun Sentinel

LAUDERHILL — It was bad enough that Eleanor Aguilar had to move out of her townhouse for two years because it was contaminated with Chinese drywall.

But after returning in April, she was slapped with a $1,200 bill from Lauderhill for water and sewer fees owed for the time she was forced out. The city said it must charge for the availability of the service, a policy followed by Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Weston, Boca Raton and Delray Beach, among others.

"I don't think it's fair,'' said Aguilar, a 48-year-old paralegal who is among the first to move back into a repaired home. "Those who have Chinese drywall have to move out for health issues. The city should eat the bill and be fair about it.''

About 2,000 homes statewide, mostly in South Florida, were built with Chinese drywall, which was imported here during the housing boom and after a series of hurricanes. But the defective material corrodes wiring, copper pipes, appliances and metals and emits a "rotten egg" odor.

Aguilar said she refuses to pay and she expects that as more affected homeowners return, they too will have sticker shock over the water/sewer fees.

"I was away from the property for almost two years,'' said Aguilar. "Being charged for something because it's available to me is a crappy answer. If you don't use it you shouldn't have to pay for it.''

City spokeswoman Leslie Johnson defends the practice and said the city was willing to work out a payment plan.

"Fixed costs for every home and business in Lauderhill include a fee for water availability, storm water, and solid waste/recycling," she said.

Pompano Beach city spokeswoman Sandra King said that as long as someone has "an active water account, we're going to charge them for water and sewer. How do we know they want us to shut the service down?"

"Even if someone has Chinese drywall, they still might need water for the construction folks," she said, adding that residents in her city can request the account be completely closed or made inactive.

Aguilar said she requested her Lauderhill account be closed but still got slapped with the availability fee.

"I'm frustrated and absolutely disgusted," she said. "It's called common sense. If you aren't using it, why are you being charged for it?"

Delray Beach calls its mandatory water fee a "capacity charge" that applies to everybody — whether they move out for home repairs or are snowbirds.

"It's the city's cost for ensuring the availability for their use," said Environmental Services Director Richard Hasko. "Whether they are using the water or not we have to make sure it's available to them 24 hours a day because we don't know who's there and who's not.''

There have been some breaks cut for victims of Chinese drywall. Some cities eliminated permit charges for work done on contaminated houses. And the state legislature required property appraisers to bring to zero the taxable value of a home with Chinese drywall. The owner still would be responsible for taxes on the land.

Aguilar's townhouse in the Georgetown Homes community was the first among an estimated 300 to be repaired in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as part of a pilot program announced last year by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, one of the largest makers of Chinese drywall.

"I have other neighbors who are going to be in the same boat,'' said Aguilar, about the $1,200 bill. So far, her house is the only one fixed in her community under the program.

Not everyone with drywall problems chose to repair their homes. Some simply walked away or unloaded their properties in a short sale.

"It was devastating for them," said Mayor Michael Udine of Parkland, where about 200 homes had the problem. "They had all their equity in their house and through no fault of their own the house was rendered unlivable. It was a horrible situation."